Cancel power supply to commercial units, demand Indiranagar residents

Representatives of residents' welfare associations in Indiranagar met Bescom officials on Thursday and sought the cancellation of power supply to commercial establishments in residential areas.

The representatives of eight RWAs, under the umbrella I Change Indiranagar, claimed that the commercial establishments, in the bylanes of areas notified as residential, have converted their residential meters to commercial ones without getting a trade licence.

This was against the law, they said, and added that the energy department is yet to act against this violation.

Sneha Nandihal, member of I Change Indiranagar and president of the BM Kawal RWA, said they had met the officials of Bescom and the Karnataka Electricity Regulatory Commission (KERC) regarding the issue, but they were yet to take action.

Thursday's meeting with Bescom officials was the third one, the member said.

The residents, in a written representation to Manjunath, assistant executive engineer, Indiranagar, stated that many commercial establishments were functioning in residential layouts and were continuing with the domestic tariff.

"During the last discussion, Bescom managing director R Cholan had mentioned that they would carry out a review of commercial establishments in the area to verify the type of licences. But nothing has been done," the letter stated.

The residents again requested Bescom to initiate the verification process of all commercial establishments in Indiranagar, especially those operating in residential zones, according to the revised master plan-2015 as 'Residential Main'.

They also quoted from Bescom's handbook, which said tariff change requires a municipal licence, and in these cases, the residents claimed that over 90% of the establishments do not have trade licences from the Palike.

Manjunath, for his part, said this was the first time that the residents came to him, seeking closure of commercial establishments. Instead, they should approach the BBMP, he said.

Pertaining to the meters and tariffs, he said any decision could be taken only after consulting the legal team and the higher-ups.